Part B Annual Performance Report for 2007-08 - New York State February 2009

Overview of the Annual Performance Report Development:

See Overview of the Development of the Annual Performance Report (APR) in the Introduction section, page 1.

Monitoring Priority: Disproportionality

Indicator 9: Percent of districts with disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic groups in special education and related services that is the result of inappropriate identification.

(20 U.S.C. 1416(a)(3)(C))

Measurement:
Percent = [(# of districts with disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic groups in special education and related services that is the result of inappropriate identification) divided by the (# of districts in the State)] times 100.

Include State’s definition of “disproportionate representation.”

Describe how the State determined that disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic groups in special education and related services was the result of inappropriate identification, e.g., monitoring data, review of policies, practices and procedures under 618(d), etc.

New York State’s (NYS) Measurement:

NYS will compare the percent of total enrollment of each race/ethnic group in special education with the percent of total enrollment of all other race/ethnic groups in special education combined. For notifications of school districts during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years based on 2005-06 and 2006-07 school year data, respectively, NYS will use the following definition of “disproportionate representation” and in subsequent years may revise the definition by lowering the relative risk ratio, weighted relative risk ratio as well as the minimum numbers of students. (The State’s definition of significant disproportion is the same as the definition of disproportion.)

For Over-representation in special education:

75 students with disabilities enrolled on 12/03/07;

A minimum of 30 students (disabled and nondisabled) of particular race/ethnicity enrolled on first Wednesday in October 2007;

At least 75 students (disabled and nondisabled) of all other race/ethnicities enrolled on first Wednesday in October 2007;

At least 10 students with disabilities of particular race/ethnicity enrolled in district on 12/03/07; and

Either:

Both the relative risk ratio and weighted relative risk ratio for any race/ethnic group is 2.5 or higher; or

All students with disabilities in special education are of only one race/ethnic group regardless of the size of the relative risk ratio and weighted relative risk ratio.

For Under-representation in special education:

A district must meet the following criteria for three consecutive years (2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08):

At least 75 students with disabilities enrolled in the district on child count date;

Both the relative risk ratio and weighted relative risk ratio for minority group is less than or equal to 0.25;

([District enrollment of race] times [Risk of Other Races]) divided by 2.5 is greater than or equal to 10; and

Minimum district enrollment of other races is 75.

A district’s risk of race is less than 50% of the Statewide risk of race.

FFY

Measurable and Rigorous Target

FFY 2007
(School year 2007-08)

The percent of districts with disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic groups in special education and related services that is the result of inappropriate identification will be 0.

Actual Target Data for FFY 2007:

The percent of districts with disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic groups in special education and related services that was the result of inappropriate identification for 2006-07 was 0.3 percent. Data for 2007-08 will be reported in April 2009.

Below are summary data on the number of school districts with disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic groups in special education and related services that is the result of inappropriate identification and the status of making corrections to policies, practices, procedures.

School Year Data

Monitoring Year

Number of Districts Identified Based on Their Data

Number and Percent of Districts Reporting Inappropriate Policies, Practices, Procedures

Number of Districts that Corrected their Policies, Practices and Procedures Within One Year of Notification

Number of Districts that Corrected their Policies, Practices and Procedures After One Year

Number of Districts that have not Corrected their Policies, Practices and Procedures to Date

2004-05

2005-06

10

8 (1.2%)

2

6

0

2005-06

2006-07

7
(5 identified in previous year)

1 (0.1%) Possibly one more after verification review.

0

1

0

2006-07

2007-08

5
(2 identified the previous year)

2 (0.3%) Possibly one more after verification review

1

0

1*

2007-08**

2008-09

5
(1 identified the previous year)

These data will be reported in this APR in April 2009

These data will be reported in the next APR

*This district still has time remaining within one year from notification to report correction of its noncompliance.
** The State Education Department (SED) began collecting special education data at the individual student level for the first time during the 2007-08 school year. The United States Education Department (USED) was notified that NYS’ 12/3/07 child count and educational environments data would be submitted late (by July 1, 2008). These data were submitted to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) on July 2, 2008. Disproportionality calculations (including under-representation for three years - 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08) were completed and notifications sent to school districts in November 2008. Four school districts are expected to report results of their self-review monitoring reviews by the end of February 2009, which is not in time to be included in this APR by February 2, 2009.

Please note: SED has informed USED in writing that it will change its child count date from December 1 to the first Wednesday in October beginning in the 2008-09 school year. This was done in order for the State to be able to complete disproportionality calculations sooner and conduct a review of school district's policies, procedures and practices in the same year and report in the next APR whether the finding of disproportionality by race/ethnicity in data is the result of inappropriate policies, practices and procedures.

Based on 2004-05 school year data, NYS identified ten school districts as having data with significant disproportionate over-representation of students in special education by race/ethnicity. In compliance with 34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §300.646(b), all 10 school districts were required to reserve 15 percent of their Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funds for coordinated Comprehensive Early Intervening Services (CEIS). They also completed the State-developed self-review monitoring protocol.

Eight of these school districts reported having inappropriate policies, practices and procedures related to evaluation and identification of students for special education.

All eight school districts have reported corrections to their policies, practices and procedures in the areas in which they initially reported noncompliance.

While six of the eight school districts reported correction of noncompliance after one year, this was due, in part, to the State's delay in developing its computer systems to allow school districts to report compliance in those areas in which they initially reported noncompliance.

Based on 2005-06 school year data, NYS identified seven school districts as having data with significant disproportionate over-representation of students in special education by race/ethnicity. In compliance with 34 CFR §300.646(b), all seven school districts were required to reserve 15 percent of their IDEA funds for coordinated CEIS.

Five of these districts had been identified in the previous school year. These five school districts were reviewed by Special Education Quality Assurance (SEQA) in the fall of 2008.

Two school districts identified for the first time for this issue completed the State-developed self-review monitoring protocol.

One district reported having inappropriate policies, practices and procedures related to evaluation and identification of students for special education. This district has reported correction of its noncompliance.

NYS will conduct a verification review of one district’s report of 100 percent compliance.

Based on 2006-07 school year data, NYS identified five school districts as having data with significant disproportionate over-representation of students in special education by race/ethnicity. In compliance with 34 CFR §300.646(b), all five school districts were required to reserve 15 percent of their IDEA funds for coordinated CEIS.

Two of the five districts were identified for the same issue in the previous year. These school districts were reviewed by SEQA in the fall of 2008.

Three districts identified for the first time for this issue completed the State-developed self-review monitoring protocol.

Two districts reported having inappropriate policies, practices and procedures related to evaluation and identification of students for special education. One of the two districts has reported correction of its noncompliance. There is still time remaining (within one-year from notification) for one district to report its correction of noncompliance.

NYS will conduct a verification review of one district’s report of 100 percent compliance.

NYS completed its analysis of 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08 school year data to determine under representation of students in special education by race/ethnicity. The criteria, which are explained under the measurement section of this indicator, were developed in-house after a lengthy review of our State’s data. No school districts met the criteria to be identified for under-representation in special education for any race/ethnicity category.

The review of 2007-08 data for over-representation resulted in identification of five school districts, one of which was also identified in the previous year for the same issue. SEQA will conduct a review of this district. In compliance with 34 CFR §300.646(b), all five school districts were required to reserve 15 percent of their IDEA funds for coordinated CEIS.

Four school districts identified for the first time for this issue will complete the State-developed monitoring protocol to determine if their disproportionality is the result of inappropriate policies, practices and procedures. NYS will update this APR in April, 2009 to report these results in this APR. Please see the note in the above table for an explanation regarding why the State could not report these results in this APR by February 2, 2009.

Beginning in 2008-09 school year, the State has changed its annual child count date from December 1 to the first Wednesday in October so that it can complete the required data analysis of 2008-09 school year data earlier and collect the results of the review of policies, practices and procedures in time to report results in the next APR, due on February 1, 2010. NYS will report in the next APR how many school districts have significant disproportionality based on 2008-09 school year data (under representation will be based on 2008-09, 2007-08 and 2006-07 data) and how many report having inappropriate policies, practices and procedures.

School districts that have data that indicates significant discrepancy for two or more consecutive years will receive a monitoring review conducted by SEQA, even though they are reported in the above table as having corrected all noncompliance reported in their self-reviews. This monitoring review, at a minimum, examines whether there have been changes to the policies and procedures since the last review; and, if so, whether those changes comply with federal and State regulatory requirements regarding school-wide approaches and prereferral interventions, referral of students to the Committee on Special Education (CSE) and individual evaluations and eligibility determinations; and whether practices in these areas continue to comply with applicable requirements.

Discussion of Improvement Activities Completed and Explanation of Progress or Slippage that occurred for FFY 2007:

Explanation of Progress or Slippage

As the data above indicate, NYS did not achieve its target of 0 districts with disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic groups in special education and related services that is the result of inappropriate identification; however, we track the correction of noncompliance for all school districts that report having inappropriate policies, practices and procedures until compliance is achieved. As shown in the above table, one school district remains with some outstanding noncompliance out of 11 that have reported some noncompliance in the past three years and this school district still has time remaining within one year from notification to report correction of its noncompliance.

Improvement Activities Completed in 2007-08

The Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) accessed technical assistance to further inform its activities relating to disproportionality by race/ethnicity. This included a review of information and resources, including but not limited to information available through the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt).

Also see technical assistance obtained for indicators 1, 2, 3 and 4.

In February 2008, additional funding was provided to increase the capacity of the Technical Assistance Center on Disproportionality (TAC-D) at New York University (NYU) Metro Center (http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/tacd.html) technical assistance project for disproportionality in special education to address the in-depth needs of six more school districts, bringing the total to 13 school districts and seven regions working intensively with TAC-D (a total of 78 sessions provided). The majority of districts showed variable reductions in disproportionate classification and placement of students in special education by race and ethnicity.

Special Education Training and Resource Center (SETRC) and other funded TAC networks were trained by the NYU Metro Center to provide technical assistance to districts whose data show disproportionate classification rates by race/ethnicity.

VESID conducted a lengthy analysis of its 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 data and developed its criteria to determine a valid and reliable process to determine under-representation. VESID considered the resources of NCCRESt, but selected criteria that would factor in NYS statistics related to identification of students for special education.

To address staffing shortages that impact special education classifications and service delivery, the Speech-Language Pathology Consortium provided scholarships for graduate students enrolled in full-time programs leading to certification in teaching students with speech and language disabilities and licensure in speech-language pathology. Six institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the NYC area joined the consortium, bringing the total to 16 IHEs. An additional 38 students were accepted at participating IHEs due to support provided for hiring additional clinical faculty. Through outreach activities contact was made with 1,800 prospective applicants.

The following six projects are funded through IDEA discretionary funds to address shortages of special education personnel who are bilingual.

The Bilingual Paraprofessional Certification/Interagency Council of NYC provided training on cultural and linguistic diversity and English as a second language for 419 professionals and paraprofessionals working in approved preschool special education programs with “Interim Alternate Bilingual” placements. The project also provided scholarships for coursework leading to a bachelor’s degree in bilingual special education for 16 paraprofessionals working in these programs.

As of November 2008, the Intensive Teacher Institute in Bilingual Special Education (ITI-BSE) had assisted 35 paraprofessionals, employed in 28 school districts and six preschool programs, to receive tuition assistance and earn bachelor’s degrees in bilingual special education. During the 2007-08 school year, 42 paraprofessionals received tuition assistance and eight completed their bachelor’s degrees.

In 2007-08, 22 new ITI-BSE programs leading to certification in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and bilingual extensions to certification in special education, speech and school psychology were registered with SED. During this time period, the project provided tuition assistance in return for a service commitment to 172 graduate students and 51 undergraduates seeking bilingual and TESOL certification. All graduate students and all but one of the undergraduates were employed in school districts and approved preschool special education programs.

The Bilingual Personnel Development Center (Bilingual Special Education University Improvement Project) received responses to the 2007 SED 2H-1 Survey, Personnel Development for Special Education and Related Services in Selected Areas, from 102 IHEs. Data were used to predict shortages, target support, and inform policy decisions regarding certification, licensure, and preparation of special education and related service personnel.

The Bilingual School Psychology Support Center provided in-service training on assessment and services for limited English proficient (LEP) students to bilingual and monolingual school psychologists, social workers, interpreters, and parent coordinators in NYC schools. It also provided information for individuals seeking certification in bilingual school psychology and employment in NYC schools, as well as referrals to SED and the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) for further assistance with certification and licensure.

The Bilingual Speech Support Center provided workshops for speech providers in NYC schools to improve clinicians’ Spanish skills, provide clinical supervision needed to complete master’s degrees and obtain NYS certification and licensure, and ensure that speech providers pass exams needed for certification and licensure. Through a collaborative effort with Western Kentucky University, 29 speech teachers (13 bilingual) completed an online master’s degree and graduated in January 2008. Seventy-nine students (33 bilingual) received graduate courses and clinical supervision in speech-language pathology and 26 students (nine bilingual) received prerequisite courses needed for acceptance into the master’s program.

The Self-Review Monitoring Protocol for Indicator 9 was revised to address under representation.

VESID conducted follow up reviews of school district reports of correction of noncompliance when a district was identified by their data in consecutive years as having a significant discrepancy by race/ethnicity.

Beginning in the 2008-09 school year, the State has changed its annual child count date from December 1 to the first Wednesday in October just so we can complete the required data analysis of 2008-09 school year data earlier and collect the results of the review of policies, practices and procedures in time to report results in the next APR, due on February 1, 2010.